December 9, 2021

Over the past several weeks, Michigan Tech employees have worked diligently to comply with the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force requirements for federal contractors and subcontractors that required employees to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or receive a medical or religious exception with the University.

Yesterday, a federal court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction that stops the federal government from enforcing the federal contractor vaccination/exception mandate pending further judicial review.

In light of this development, Michigan Tech will pause the implementation of the federal contractor vaccination/exception mandate, including the religious and medical exception process, until there is further legal clarity from the federal court system. If and when the mandate goes back into effect, vaccine compliance, as well as religious and medical exceptions already granted, will take effect, and exceptions will be available for those who have not yet completed the process.

We continue to encourage our employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and will host another vaccine clinic on Jan. 12. In the meantime, the MTU Flex Task Force will keep the campus community updated as the situation develops, and the Michigan Tech campus will remain at Health and Safety Level Two.

Thank you again for your continued commitment to the health and well-being of our campus community.

The surveys have been conducted, the public forums have been held and your input has been heard. Come out and join the Graduate Student Government for our final public forum on the Graduate Commons.

At the forum, we will be presenting our final draft of the proposed renovations to the space and the plans for making the space open for public use.

The forum will be held today (Dec. 9) starting at 5:30 p.m. in the MUB Ballroom B. Please join us for the capstone of this exciting design phase of the Graduate Commons!

The Aging, Cognition, and Action Lab is looking for research participants ages 18-35 years to participate in the study: The Effects of Aging on the Ability to Make Optimal Corrective Actions During Reaching Movements.

This 2.5-hour study will record and compare individuals' mental abilities, ability to make reaching movements with a robotic arm, shoulder activation using EMG, and brain activity measured with EEG.

Participants must be:

1. Right handed.
2. Free from medical conditions that would affect movement of the hands/arms.
3. Free from medical conditions that affect cognitive functioning.
4. Between the ages of 18 and 35.

If you are interested, please email Isaac Flint at irflint@mtu.edu for more information.

Calling all interested singers! Have you ever wished you could be part of a performance of the iconic "Carmina Burana" for chorus and orchestra? The Michigan Tech Concert Choir will be expanding its spring semester roster to perform Orff's masterwork with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra and guest soloists on April 23, 2022.

Interested singers should contact Jared Anderson at jaredand@mtu.edu to sing a voicing audition. Auditions will be by appointment on Wednesday (Dec. 15) between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Other audition times will be available by request.

Late Night presents comedian Subhah Agarwal!!

Join us for a nice end-of-semester stress-relief evening of laughs tomorrow (Dec. 10) at 10 p.m. in the MUB Ballroom. This event is free and contains college humor.

Agarwal has brought an honesty to her comedy that will leave you saying "I didn't need to know that." She has written for the "Plan B" movie on Hulu and "The Jim Jefferies Show" on Comedy Central, among others. You can also catch her jokes live at standup comedy clubs across the country.

If you don't want to leave your couch, you can see her late-night debut on NBC's "A Little Late With Lilly Singh." She's also appeared on season three of HBO's "Westworld," on TruTv's sketch comedy "Friends of the People," and as herself on MTV2, Comedy Central and Gotham Comedy Live.

Jari Porras ’93 (M.S., computer science) will present a lecture at 1 p.m. Monday (Dec. 13) in Kanwal and Ann Rekhi Hall (Rekhi), Room 214.

The title of Porras' talk is “Integrating sustainability into software engineering education.”

Porras’ research interests include software for sustainability; innovation; technologies and approaches for communications; parallel and distributed computing; networks (social, technical, business); and education development.

Read the lecture abstract and more about Porras' research background on the Computing News Blog.

Michigan Tech football captain Hayden Huttula was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-America First Team.

Huttula, a junior from Hartland, Michigan, was named to the team at the center position. He has been a force on the Huskies offensive line since his first start on the offensive line in 2018. He was named All-GLIAC First Team and Don Hansen Third Team All-Super Region 3 in 2019 after helping the offense average 357.7 yards per game, including 140.9 yards per game rushing. Tech allowed just 15 sacks and 46 tackles for loss in 2019.

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Unbeaten in their last three outings, Michigan Tech men's basketball continues its longest homestand of the season tonight (Dec. 9) against Lake Superior State at 7:30 p.m., followed by a game against No. 20 Ferris State on Saturday (Dec. 11) at 2 p.m.

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Michigan Tech women's basketball was ranked No. 24 in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II National Top 25 Poll.

The Huskies (7-1, 2-0 GLIAC) are currently on a four-game win streak. They will continue their three-game homestand against Lake Superior State tonight (Dec. 9) and Ferris State on Saturday (Dec. 11). 

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

The Michigan Tech Nordic ski team continues the SuperTour events this weekend (Dec. 10-12) with the Gitchi Gami Games in Cable, Wisconsin.

Husky skiers will compete in skate distance races Friday, the classic sprint races Saturday, and classic interval start distance races Sunday. 

"A big goal of ours as a team is to have consistent performances each day," coach Tom Monahan Smith said. "It is important to have good energy management between races for a triple header. We also get to practice our NCAA championship race formats this weekend, so it will be great season preparation for our student-athletes."

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Job Postings for Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email mtujobs@mtu.edu.

For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted. 

Assistant Research Scientist – Applied Physics, Michigan Tech Research Institute. Apply online.

Office Assistant 5, Biological Sciences (UAW posting Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, 2021 — internal UAW applicants are given first consideration if they apply during the internal UAW posting dates). Apply online.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Accommodations are available. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations to apply for employment, or for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or mtujobs@mtu.edu.

University archivist Lindsay Hiltunen (Library) and professor emeritus Bill Sproule (CEGE) have each written a paper published in the 2021 Induction Edition of Legends magazine, the official publication of the Hockey Hall of Fame (Toronto, Ontario).

Hiltunen's paper, titled "Of Cups & Kraken," explores Seattle's hockey history. Sproule's paper, titled "The Evel-ution of Hockey," is on Evel Knievel and his life as a daredevil, promoter and hockey player.

It is estimated that over 30,000 copies of the Legends magazine will be sold at the Hockey Hall of Fame this year.

Railway Track & Structures published a profile of civil engineering alumnus Jim Morrison ’81 ’82 (B.S., M.S.), who has joined STV Incorporated as vice president and engineering chief for tunneling and geotechnical engineering.

Face Coverings Required Indoors on Campus

While Michigan Tech is at Health and Safety Level Two, face coverings must be worn indoors. This applies to all students, employees and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.

Michigan Tech strongly recommends that all employees and students continue with handwashing and hand-sanitizing practices, especially in light of the virulence of the COVID-19 delta variant. Please be aware that if you are exposed to COVID-19, quarantine guidelines vary depending on vaccination status. 

In Level Two, students and employees are not required to monitor their symptoms daily prior to coming to campus. But, individuals should be mindful of their own symptoms. A useful monitoring tool is available from the CDC. 

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On-Demand COVID-19 Testing Available on Campus

Walk-in, on-demand COVID-19 testing is available to Michigan Tech students and employees during the fall 2021 semester. 

Testing is located in the Datolite Room at the MUB. Regular testing hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. There is no cost to be tested, and no appointment is needed. 

The last day of testing for the semester will be next Thursday (Dec. 16).

Read more COVID-19 Testing Information on the MTU Flex website.

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Accounts Payable Payments

Financial Services and Operations will not be processing payments from Dec. 23 through Jan. 2.

If payments will be needed during this time, please submit check requests to Accounts Payable by Dec. 15.

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SURF Applications Now Open

Applications for 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURFs) are now open. Fellowship recipients will spend the summer working on an individual research project under the guidance of a Michigan Tech faculty mentor.

SURFs are open to all Tech undergraduates who have at least one semester remaining after the summer term. Awards are up to $4,000. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 11.

Students who have questions about the program or application process can take advantage of a virtual drop-in advising session with the SURF coordinator, Robert Handler (ChE).

Virtual drop-in advising sessions are scheduled for these dates:

• Tuesday, Dec. 14, from 2-5 p.m. — Join via Zoom.
• Tuesday, Jan. 18, from 2-5 p.m. — Join via Zoom.

For more information and access to the application materials and instructions, visit the SURF web page or contact Handler at rhandler@mtu.edu.

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Volunteers Still Needed for Midyear Commencement

Volunteers are still needed for the Midyear Commencement ceremony. The Commencement Team needs volunteers to serve as greeters, coordinate graduate check-in, collect tickets at the door and assist guests with special seating accommodations.

The ceremony is Dec. 18. Volunteers are asked to arrive by 8 a.m. and stay until the end of the ceremony, which ends at approximately 12:30 p.m. More information regarding the ceremony can be found on the commencement website. An optional volunteer training will be scheduled during the week of commencement.

Please sign up by tomorrow (Dec. 10) if you would like to volunteer. Contact Chad Arney at caarney@mtu.edu if you have any questions.

This special weekend cannot happen without the help of our amazing Michigan Tech community!

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Physics Colloquium

Alice Pisani of Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Center for Computational Astrophysics of the Flatiron Institute and Princeton University will be presenting at this week's Physics Colloquium. Please join the presentation today (Dec. 9) at 4 p.m. via Zoom.

The presentation is titled "Unraveling the Universe with Cosmic Voids."

Register in advance for this event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the event.

From the abstract:
Modern surveys provide access to high-quality measurements on large areas of the sky, sampling the galaxy distribution in detail also in the emptiest regions, voids. Void cosmology is becoming an increasingly active sector of galaxy clustering analysis: by measuring void properties, such as density profiles or void number counts, it is possible to constrain cosmological parameters. Cosmic voids are particularly sensitive to the properties of dark energy and neutrinos, and are a powerful tool to test modifications of the laws of general relativity. Studying voids provides a novel perspective to unravel the unsolved mysteries of our Universe.

Pisani's research work is in the field of cosmology, aiming to better understand our universe with data from large-scale surveys. Her work is at the interface between theory and data, and focuses in particular on the under-dense regions of the galaxy distribution, cosmic voids. Read more about her research background on the University Events Calendar.

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Board of Trustees Meeting is Dec. 17

The Board of Trustees will meet next Friday (Dec. 17) from 9-11 a.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom B, and public attendance is welcome.

Members of the public are invited to make public comments to the board in accordance with the Board of Trustees Bylaw 1.14. Those who wish to address items in the agenda, and who have filed their intent with the secretary of the board as required by Bylaw 1.14, will be limited to five minutes. Those addressing general topics are limited to three minutes.

If you wish to provide public comments to the Board of Trustees, please submit your intent to Sarah Schulte, secretary to the Board of Trustees, at shschult@mtu.edu. The deadline to submit your intent is tomorrow (Dec. 10).

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Cans for Kids Toys on Display in the Library

This past semester, $570 in returnables was collected in the eighth year of the Cans for Kids toy drive. This semester also featured amazing student-led work collecting a substantial amount of returnables at the Ford Center in Alberta!

The toys will be charitably donated to children in need within our community and are on display at the circulation desk in the Van Pelt and Opie Library. They will be picked up Monday (Dec. 13) at 9 a.m.

If you would like to donate a new, unwrapped toy at the circulation desk before Monday, it would be welcome and very much appreciated!

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Biological Seminar Series

Manas Warke is the next Biological Seminar Series presenter. The seminar will be held virtually from 3-4 p.m. today (Dec. 9) via Zoom.

Warke's presentation is titled "Developing cell culture model to investigate effects of soil-As through direct dermal exposure."

From the abstract:
Arsenic (As) is a Class I carcinogen that causes cancers of the lungs, kidneys, skin, and prostate. Chronic exposure to As is also linked to diabetes, obesity, and various cardiovascular diseases. ... Despite the ban on arsenical-pesticides since 2010, its extensive use over decades has led to the accumulation of As in the soil. ... Exposure of soil-As is a major health concern since water-soluble As can be easily absorbed by the skin. In this work, we present a pilot study on the effect of soil-As on healthy Human Immortalized Keratinocyte (HaCaT) and Human Dermal Fibroblasts (HDFa) cells.

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ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker

The next Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (ME-EM) Graduate Seminar will be held at 4 p.m. today (Dec. 9) in Fisher Hall, Room 135.

At this seminar, Wayne W. Weaver will present "Autonomous Mobile Robotic Microgrids."

Weaver, a faculty member at Michigan Tech since 2008, teaches and conducts research in power electronics, energy systems, and controls and optimization. He received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from GMI Engineering and Management Institute in 1997. He earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 2004 and 2007, respectively.

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Scholarship Opportunity for Community Service

Beginning this spring, a $5,000 award will be presented to a student who demonstrates community service with lasting and meaningful impact during their time at Michigan Tech, regardless of background or area of study. Students are encouraged to document and think about their community service contributions throughout the academic year.

Dr. David and Marie Blum have initiated this endowment in memory of Marie’s parents, Josephine and William Balconi. David and Marie remember Marie's parents as "kind, gracious, warm and always helpful. They were always involved in helping others." Marie’s parents lived in the Houghton area.

"Community service is an area that isn't typically recognized," said Marie. "We thought it would be nice to have an award where the student didn't have to be the top brain in the class. We want to help students who help others."

"Everyone who will be nominated has already won because they've helped others," said David. "We hope that it's not something they do just in college, but for the rest of their lives. We hope this helps produce well-rounded students — strong not only in academics but in helping humanity."

Faculty and staff are encouraged to think about the students they work with and the different types of community service projects in which they’ve participated inside and outside of the classroom.

More information will be provided in the spring semester, including the nomination form, as part of the Student Leadership Awards.

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See Your Pets While You Study!

Nothing reduces stress more than a friendly furry (or scaly) friend.

Share a picture of your pets with the Van Pelt and Opie Library by the end of today (Dec. 9) and we'll display them on the screens during finals week. Simply attach a photo of your pet in the submission form.

Critters of all types welcome!

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C-Cubed Luncheon Menu for Thursday (Dec. 9):

• Medieval Prime Rib Stew
• Medieval Root Vegetable Stew (Vegan)
• Viking Beer Bread (Vegetarian)
• Norwegian Apple Soup (Gluten Free)
• Nordic Kale Salad with Lemons, Almonds and Goat Cheese (Gluten Free, Vegetarian)

Dining Services presents this week's C-Cubed Luncheon being held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today (Dec. 9) in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge, Room 107. All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited.

The C-Cubed lunch buffet menus are created by executive chef Eric Karvonen and prepared by Karvonen and his culinary team. As the name suggests, the meals are meant to foster conversation, community and collegiality. Attendees may bring their lunch instead of purchasing the buffet. Fruit-infused water, coffee, tea, cookies and fruit are available free to all attendees.

The buffet lunch is $12 per person. Cash, credit cards and gift cards are accepted. Gift cards can be purchased in the Memorial Union office, Room 101. You can submit C-Cubed feedback using this Google form. To join the C-Cubed Google group and receive weekly menus, email business-support@mtu.edu.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

UP & Moving Aerobic Exercise, Agility, and Balance Workout

Thursday, December 9, 9:30–10:15 a.m.

We are a group of Michigan Tech graduate students who are focused on improving the health of our community. We are contributing to the COVID-19 response by providing health...

Biological Science Seminar/PhD Defense - Manas Warke

Thursday, December 9, 3 p.m.–4 p.m.

Manas Warke PhD Student Biological Sciences Michigan Technological University Developing cell culture model to investigate effects of soil-As through direct dermal...

Autonomous Mobile Robotic Microgrids

Thursday, December 9, 4 p.m. | Fisher Hall, 135

ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker Series proudly presents Wayne W. Weaver PE PhD Michigan Technological University Abstract During a disaster, it is crucial to have electric...

Physics Colloquium - Dr. Alice Pisani

Thursday, December 9, 4 p.m.–5 p.m.

Dr. Alice Pisani of Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Center for Computational Astrophysics of the Flatiron Institute, and Princeton University will be...

(Women's Basketball) Lake Superior State vs. Michigan Tech

Thursday, December 9, 5:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Wood Gym

Women's Basketball: Lake Superior State vs. Michigan Tech, SDC Gymnasium - Houghton, Mich.

Cocoa & Karaoke

Thursday, December 9, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. | MUB Commons

Students can come down to the MUB Commons, enjoy a hot cocoa bar with lots of toppings, and sing some karaoke. Bring your friends and take a break from studying, come sing...

Open Rock Climbing

Thursday, December 9, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Multipurpose Room Climbing Wall

All ages (we can allow all ages to climb as long as we have the proper fitting equipment). No need to sign up, just stop by the Climbing Wall between 6 and 8 pm Monday through...

Open Forum on RSO Catering Policies

Thursday, December 9, 7 p.m.–8 p.m. | MEEM 111

USG, in seeking to make changes to RSO catering policies, wants the input of RSO leaders before making recommendations to the universities for changes. The purpose of this...

(Men's Basketball) Lake Superior State vs. Michigan Tech

Thursday, December 9, 7:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Wood Gym

Men's Basketball: Lake Superior State vs. Michigan Tech, SDC Gymnasium - Houghton, Mich.

OAP Kayak Safety Clinic

Thursday, December 9, 8:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m. | Student Development Complex (SDC), Lap Pool

It might still be a little early to get you out on the open water, but we can help you work on your skills in the pool! Sign up now for the OAP Kayak Safety Sessions and...